Spotify says it has excluded more than 50 million “slop and spam” tracks from recommendations this year as it expands its response to AI-generated music.
The figure appeared in the company’s 20 October progress report on artist protection. It covers tracks kept out of recommendations, rather than a new count of songs deleted from Spotify’s catalogue. The company says it has adjusted its recommendation system repeatedly over the past six months.
Spotify also referred to more than 75 million spam tracks removed from the service entirely for serious or repeated rule breaches. That figure was first disclosed in September 2025. Digital Music News reports that Spotify declined to provide an updated removal total when asked, instead pointing back to the recommendation figure.
To identify likely spam, Spotify says it combines listener behaviour and feedback with upload patterns, metadata and third-party AI detection tools. It acknowledges that detection tools have limitations. Its searches also target bulk uploads, duplicate recordings, manipulated playlist networks and unusually short tracks.
The announcement follows the rollout of AI Persona badges, which Spotify announced in August. Those labels concern an artist’s public identity: whether a profile represents a real person. They do not, by themselves, describe every use of AI in the recording process. Spotify has separate AI Credits for that information.
Under that policy, AI Personas are excluded from editorial and algorithmic recommendations by default, with exceptions such as a listener following one. Spotify can apply a badge after reviewing a profile, as well as accepting an artist’s own disclosure. Artists can appeal a badge applied by the company.
Its Verified by Spotify programme, introduced in April, takes a different approach to identity checks. It considers sustained listener activity, compliance with platform rules and evidence of an artist’s presence, including concerts, merchandise and linked social accounts. Spotify says the checks involve human review.
For musicians dealing with releases wrongly attributed to them, Spotify says Artist Profile Protection will be available to all artists by the end of 2026. The feature lets artists review releases submitted under their name and decide what appears on their profile.
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